1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical (including electronic) equipment and to the assembly thereof; and more particularly to electrical equipment and assembly thereof using such front-mounting electrical components as international electrical code (IEC) inlet (male) and outlet (female) connectors, switches (e.g., rocker switches), circuit breakers, panel lights and indicators that install into equipment chassis box walls from outside the box.
2. Background Discussion
The manufacture and assembly of a great many types of electrical equipment housed in chassis boxes (including other enclosures) use one or more electrical components that are installed into the chassis box from outside the box. Such front-mounting electrical components include, without limitation, IEC inlet and outlet connectors, switches, circuit breakers, panel lights and indicators that are constructed for easy and rapid snapping or insertion into chassis box cutouts.
After installation, these front-mounting electrical components have user-accessible or observable portions outside the chassis box and electrical connection terminals or pins that project into the box. For assembly of the equipment, electrical connections have heretofore been made inside the box to the terminals of installed front-mounting components and to other electrical components, such as relays, printed circuit cards, transformers, A-to-D converters, and microcontrollers mounted inside the chassis box.
Although front-mounting electrical components are ordinarily easy to install in chassis boxes, extensive or even moderate "inside-the-box" electrical wire connections to them and other internal components (such as those mentioned above) are often very difficult, and hence costly, to make, inspect and repair. This is especially the case when the chassis boxes are made small for conserving usually valuable equipment rack space and/or when the space provided for internal wiring is tight.
Accordingly, a principal objective of the present invention is to provide efficiently assembled electrical equipment for which the difficulty and time required for assembly using front-mounting electrical components is substantially reduced.
A related objective of the present invention is to convert, in effect, front-mounting electrical components to rear-mounting in a manner that related electrical interconnections can be easily and efficiently made outside the equipment chassis box. The electrical components and electrical interconnections can then be installed as a complete sub-assembly into the chassis box.